Hello everyone!
Things have been pretty busy here in Guatemala- please forgive the lack of blog posting! We hope you have been enjoying seeing photos posted on Facebook in lieu of website posts.
Last week our good friend Allyson came all the way to visit us from Saxapahaw, NC! Yep- another visitor :) We got to show her around the little village of San Juan as well as host her in our very humble abode. We even hit up the San Marcos Ferria (a festival in honor of the village's patron saint). This was a very big deal, and we even rode on the fastest and least-stable-looking ferris wheel I've ever encountered. Allyson was able to see some of the ins and outs of how we live here and even meet some of our Photovoice participants! It was great having her visit.
Things have been pretty busy here in Guatemala- please forgive the lack of blog posting! We hope you have been enjoying seeing photos posted on Facebook in lieu of website posts.
Last week our good friend Allyson came all the way to visit us from Saxapahaw, NC! Yep- another visitor :) We got to show her around the little village of San Juan as well as host her in our very humble abode. We even hit up the San Marcos Ferria (a festival in honor of the village's patron saint). This was a very big deal, and we even rode on the fastest and least-stable-looking ferris wheel I've ever encountered. Allyson was able to see some of the ins and outs of how we live here and even meet some of our Photovoice participants! It was great having her visit.
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Just a few days after Allyson left, Maggie's dad, John, and sister, Katherine, made the trip down to Guatemala for a long weekend. (No, we are not running a travel agency- we just love having visitors!) They were able to explore Lake Atitlan in all of its beauty, checking out the villages of San Juan, San Pedro, San Marcos, and Panajachel. Mags and I gave them the full experience involving a broken-down van and hanging out on the side of the road for a while before someone could pick us up in a truck to take us from Antigua to the lake area :) It has been such a blessing to have been visited by friends and family in different parts of this journey. We have made truly unforgettable memories and it was lovely to be able to share a little bit of the Look Out Loud lifestyle with them first-hand!
As far as the project goes, things are going a bit differently here in San Juan than in other places we have been. There have been some scheduling conflicts with the various holidays and festivals happening during this time of year that affect the school schedule, but many of our girls are dedicated to taking photographs and sharing their stories!
It has been really interesting to compare this group of students to others because these girls are much more connected to technology and social networks than any of our past participants. They all have Facebook, access their social media accounts from internet cafes, and bring USB memory sticks to save copies of their photographs that they take. With all of this in mind, we have decided to have this part of the project culminate in an interactive online photo exhibit. We think that we can reach and connect with a record number of people in our participants' online networks as well as our own networks. This will exist primarily on Facebook due to the flexibility and ease of communication in that venue, and will also show up on our blog. Our participants will be able to connect and interact with exhibition viewers from around the world via comments underneath each photograph. We are so excited to see some cool conversations being started online with participation from our own Look Out Loud photographers!
So here we find ourselves ready to wrap up another project in the coming weeks! It's hard to believe that after this entire year of fundraising and traveling, it's almost time to head home already and figure out what's next for each of us and also for Look Out Loud! But that's a topic for a different post!
Thanks to everyone for their continued support! Keep "liking" photos on Facebook!
As far as the project goes, things are going a bit differently here in San Juan than in other places we have been. There have been some scheduling conflicts with the various holidays and festivals happening during this time of year that affect the school schedule, but many of our girls are dedicated to taking photographs and sharing their stories!
It has been really interesting to compare this group of students to others because these girls are much more connected to technology and social networks than any of our past participants. They all have Facebook, access their social media accounts from internet cafes, and bring USB memory sticks to save copies of their photographs that they take. With all of this in mind, we have decided to have this part of the project culminate in an interactive online photo exhibit. We think that we can reach and connect with a record number of people in our participants' online networks as well as our own networks. This will exist primarily on Facebook due to the flexibility and ease of communication in that venue, and will also show up on our blog. Our participants will be able to connect and interact with exhibition viewers from around the world via comments underneath each photograph. We are so excited to see some cool conversations being started online with participation from our own Look Out Loud photographers!
So here we find ourselves ready to wrap up another project in the coming weeks! It's hard to believe that after this entire year of fundraising and traveling, it's almost time to head home already and figure out what's next for each of us and also for Look Out Loud! But that's a topic for a different post!
Thanks to everyone for their continued support! Keep "liking" photos on Facebook!
